incremental-refactoring

What problem does it solve?

This Skill helps developers improve code structure, readability, and maintainability by performing small, behavior-preserving refactorings instead of large, risky rewrites. It reduces risk by insisting on an analysis-only phase, explicit user approval, and single-transformation commits with verification after each change.

Core Features & Use Cases

• Two-phase workflow: analyze and prioritize candidate refactorings (80/20), then perform one approved transformation per cycle.
• Safe transformation catalog: extract method, inline method, rename, move function, extract variable, replace nested conditionals, split loops, and similar verifiable edits.
• Verification-first: require tests, type checks, or mechanical equivalence proofs after each change and commit one transformation at a time.
• Use Case: Incrementally clean up a long, complex function by extracting methods and validating with unit tests between each commit.

Quick Start

Ask the skill to analyze the codebase and present HIGH priority refactoring candidates following the Incremental Refactoring guide and await approval before making changes.